Burlington, Vt. In huge US political news, it is now reported US Senator and 2016 Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and his wife, are now under FBI investigation for bank fraud, based on his wifes actions while obtaining a loan.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and his wife Jane have lawyer’d up amid an FBI investigation into a loan obtained to expand Burlington College while she was its president.
As News Front noted just over a year ago, Burlington College, a small Vermont private school once led by the wife of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, said Monday it will close later this month, citing “the crushing weight” of debt incurred during the presidency of Jane Sanders who was in charge of the college until 2011.
The college which enrolled 224 students as of fall 2014, said it faced financial troubles connected to its 2010 purchase of 32 acres of lakefront property from the Archdiocese of Burlington, according to the Burlington Free Press.
The reason for the small liberal school’s terminal financial trouble is that to fund the property purchase from the Catholic diocese, Sanders took out $10 million in loans. As News Front reported last year, the college almost immediately fell short on its financial obligations as fundraising pledges and commitments Ms. Sanders cited in the loan agreements never materialized.
Less than a year after leading Burlington College into massive debt, Ms. Sanders resigned, taking with her a $200,000 severance package. By 2014, because of its shaky finances and running deficits, Burlington College found itself placed on probation for two years by the regional accreditation agency.
Jane Sanders stepped down in 2011 amid a dispute with the college’s board. After her husband launched his presidential campaign, news stories emerged that scrutinized her role in a loan application for the lakefront real-estate purchase. Jane Sanders has dismissed those stories as politically motivated and said the issue was not a factor in her departure from the college.
Sanders’ top adviser Jeff Weaver told News Front the couple has sought legal protection over federal agents’ allegations from a January 2016 complaint accusing then-President of Burlington College, Ms. Sanders, of distorting donor levels in a 2010 loan application for $10 million from People’s United Bank to purchase 33 acres of land for the institution.
According to American press reports, prosecutors might also be looking into allegations that Sen. Sanders’ office inappropriately urged the bank to approve the loan.